This proposal is not…

This proposal is not appropriate with respect to wildlife management goals, and hunting traditions, in Ontario. I'm not opposed to properly managed wildlife culls where they are understood to be necessary to protect species at risk, but that's not what this is. Completely unregulated shooting of nesting birds is not population management, nor is it "hunting". Allowing shot birds to spoil is not "hunting" and contradicts everything that hunters are taught. The public perception of hunting has been increasingly negative over the last 40 years and activities such as what this proposal would allow will only make this situation worse. We cannot allow anyone to shoot as many birds as they like and leave them to rot (or pile them up and burn them) if we want to attempt to keep what little public goodwill is left towards hunters and hunting in southern Ontario.

That's not to say that local hunters could not be involved in a cull that was planned as part of a management strategy. But the timing, numbers, etc. would need to be decided by those qualified to do so using scientific evidence, not perceptions of "they're eating all the fish." Further, such perceptions are not a valid reason for a wildlife cull. Competition with humans for resources should never be a reason; humans are doing well enough at competing with wildlife already. Some people would have us shoot more wolves so that there are more deer to hunt. This is not a valid approach to wildlife management by today's standards.